Hello again

It's been quite a while. How have you all been?
I've been doing pretty good.

I'm going to grow sweet rice this year. It's much stickier than normal rice. You use it when making rice cake or mochi in Japanese. Not many people grow the sweet kind of rice lately because they find it bothering or something. I decided to make it since I thought it has scarcity value to grow the sweet kind, and the mountainous area where the Ooyama's rice paddy is located is said to be suitable for sweet rice farming, and it is my dad's favorite food in the world:)

Most of the farmers now BUY rice seedlings from seed and plant suppliers, or grow the seedlings in gas-stove heated green house. I make beds in a rice paddy to grow seedlings of the rice. That's how people in 50 years ago would do it and it seems great to me because you need little equipment or money, or work since the nature does most of the work for you.

Today I coated the edges and sides around the rice paddy with mud, in order to prevent the water from leaking out. It was interesting. Felt like I was decorating a huge cake with whipped cream or something :)

A new friend T volunteered to help and it was great. Much funner and easier than to work by myself. We were able to make two muddy beds successcully. The friend has moved to Sado from Tokyo after quitting a full-time job to live a happier life.

The rice seeds that I've been soaking in the water for two weeks are almost ready to sow. The seeding party is scheduled on Monday.

My dad's right foot has been swollen and hurting since five days ago. He had been insisting on not going to see the doctors because he hates hospitals& doctors. But he said yes when I asked him to go to the hospital so I took him there this morning.
It seems like the gout. My dad would need to suffer from the pain for a while but I'm relieved to know that nothing seems wrong with his bones at least. I was afraid that he would have difficulty running again so.

I had a computer tomography of the abdomen taken in the hospital. I will have a colonofiberscopy next week. I'm a little scared since I hear it could hurt a lot and is not pleasant at all. But hopefully the results of the two tests will show what's causing the pain in my stomach that starts when running.

My friends who live in Lithuania sent me a package by mail. It had post cards, photos, socks, various kinds of seeds (herb and peas)and home-dried fruits. It all made me very happy. They are great people. I feel blessed to have such friends and am excited to plant the seeds and have an international garden soon:)

A good friend of mine, M is coming to Sado tomorrow. She will stay with me and my family for a while, and help my dad with his project on the land in the woods and me with farming, etc. I'm very excited.